European Soccer's Summer Exodus Begins

By ROB HUGHES

June 4, 2013

PROVENCE, France — The arrival of Neymar in Barcelona ends two years of speculation about where Brazil’s new prince among players would choose for his inevitable European flight.

But as Barça and the sponsor Nike made the most of this prize capture, another player — another winger — slipped out of Spanish league soccer. The $74 million trade of Neymar from Santos to Barcelona is more than double the $30 million Manchester City will pay to capture Jesús Navas, the ultraquick right winger from Sevilla.

Somewhere in the middle of those fees, which are simply transfer sums that clubs agree to for the temporary acquisition of players, came the departure from Atlético Madrid of Radamel Falcao.

His move was expected. His destination is a surprise: Falcao could have gone to Chelsea, to one of the Manchester teams, or even across Madrid to Real, but he and his advisers chose A.S. Monaco.

Falcao, the dynamic, instinctive, predatory Colombian, and Navas, the goal maker, will doubtless be the start of a net summer migration from La Liga.

Why? Simple economics. There is Barça and there is Real Madrid; beneath that, there is a sea of indebted clubs in a nation of economic crises.

The reality of Spain, and of leagues in France, Germany, Italy and to a degree England, is that there is growing two-tier gap in which a couple of clubs dominate the television ratings, thus creating wealth that the rest cannot dream of competing against.

But, still, Falcao’s move to Monaco shocked Europe.

He is known as the Colombian Tiger because of his astounding ability to lurk almost unseen until he pounces with goals from all angles, in the air, along the ground. His big match temperament took him from River Plate in Argentina to Porto in Portugal and then to Atlético Madrid.

And while in terms of striking, he was third in La Liga behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, his near goal-a-game ratio was astonishing in a team that had nothing like the all-round quality to create his goals for him.

Soccer scouts and agents can spot that potential, and sell it. So the departure from Atlético was more than anticipated. Since last August, when Falcao scored three goals that devastated Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup, it was rumored that the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, would pay whatever price was demanded for him.

But when the move came, it was not to Chelsea in West London, but to Monaco — the very place where the annual Super Cup is played. And it was another Russian paymaster, Dmitry Rybolovlev, paying Atlético’s price and more than matching Chelsea’s salary offer.

Rybolovlev is Monaco’s Abramovich, with an extra advantage in that the club he has purchased happens to be in a tax haven.

Radamel Falcao's move to Monaco from Atlético Madrid shocked Europe.

Dani Pozo / Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

With its new fiscal power, Monaco has just risen from the second division of French soccer back to the first. This brings a spending spree that will take on the Qatari-backed Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 in quick time.

Monaco’s coach, the well-travelled Italian Claudio Ranieri, was once fired by the Russian at Chelsea. He doubtless relishes taking from Amramovich to “give” to his new oligarch, Rybolovlev.

Another big player in this marketing of soccer flesh is Jorge Mendes.

Heaven knows how much this Portuguese superagent makes from moving players and coaches around the well-heeled club owners.

Mendes is the adviser to José Mourinho, who has just completed a full circle from Chelsea to Inter to Real Madrid and now back to Chelsea. Mourinho said Monday that he and “the boss” Abramovich had decided to get married again.

That does not come cheaply. The divorce was worth several seasons’ salary on the broken contract; the renewal of vows is reported to be worth £10 million, or $15 million, per year, plus bonuses.

Falcao, meanwhile, has signed on for a net annual pay of €14 million, or $18 million, in the Principality of Monaco. He is joined by other new recruits — James Rodréguez, João Moutinho and Ricardo Carvalho — all with ties to Portugal and all advised by Jorge Mendes.

In the case of Falcao, there is an even deeper tie. When Falcao moved on from helping Porto to win the Europa League to doing the same thing for Atlético, his Spanish team could not afford the full transfer fee.

Mendes then became part-owner, paying the difference so that his client could move upward and onward.

Third-party ownership was supposed to be outlawed by FIFA. But tracking it and breaking it became too expensive and too time-consuming for the world governing body, which has become too embroiled with its own problems to police the movements of players in 200 countries across the globe.

This is not to imply that Mendes is in any way devious. His business starts with his own judgment of spotting rising potential, and finding buyers for his stable of coaches and artists.

What some of us would give, however, to be a fly on the wall the next time Abramovich meets the Portuguese who has just brokered the move back to Chelsea of Mourinho, but moved Falcao beyond Chelsea’s reach for the time being.

Rybolovlev is a qualified cardiologist who mined for potash. His daughter Ekaterina recently paid $150 million to buy the Greek islands of Skorpios and Sparti.

So naturally Abramovich will know about the Rybolovlevs. Soccer is just one way to spend, and the Monégasque appeal of sunshine and tax-advantaged banking has now drawn Falcao as it did the Formula 1 motor racers, Hollywood stars and models who live there.

Also among the residents is Ken Bates: the Englishman who sold Chelsea to Abramovich a decade ago.